Subject: English Language Arts (6 - 8) Title: Narratives & Grammar: There's More to the StoryDescription: For this lesson, a mystery, a type of narrative realistic fiction, will be composed. Since strong adjectives and adverbs will support a mystery, they will be incorporated into the writing. What should a good narrative contain?
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: African American Poet ResearchDescription: Students will research the life of an African American poet using print and online resources. Students will present their findings by writing a research paper and creating a PowerPoint presentation.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: The Giver - AuthorityDescription: A unit lesson using the book The Giver by Louis Lowry that will have students be researchers and recorders in the process of finding information on Utopian societies, cults and authority.
Students will complete a Powerpoint, Glogster, essay or news broadcast by the conclusion of the essay.

Subject: English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Expressing Yourself With PoetryDescription: Two classes at different schools or across the hall share dramatic poetry presentations as part of a poetry unit. Students listen to poetry, practice reading poetry, and (if practical) participate in a distance learning program on poetry. Students then produce a Poetry Alive program that will be shared with another class through video conferencing or video tapes.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Integrating Grammar and Literature through Digital StorytellingDescription: In this lesson students create digital stories in cooperative groups using multimedia tools to demonstrate comprehension of the elements of grammar, literature, and technology introduced in the lesson. Students become actively involved in literature, recognize an author's intent, and examine the importance of word choice in writing. This lesson incorporates sentence manipulation, the elements of fiction, storyboarding, and the production of a slideshow presentation.

Subject: English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Researching Mark Twain's Early Life and ExperiencesDescription: This lesson requires students to use the Internet to research the early life of Mark Twain and the influence of his childhood experiences on his writing. The lesson includes letter writing, reading, role playing, and working in a group to create a slideshow presentation.

Subject: English Language Arts (5 - 8), or Technology Education (3 - 8) Title: Author Trading CardsDescription: In this lesson students conduct print and Internet research to gather information about a contempory author. Students create an author trading card featuring this information and then collect and/or trade these cards as they select reading material.

Subject: English Language Arts (6 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Who's Who on Olympus and Why Should I Care?Description: References to mythology extend far beyond the basic exploration of a genre. This unit will serve as an exploration of the creation myth across cultures, an introduction to the major Greek gods and goddesses, and an opportunity to link mythology to today's world. Students will research and create a newsletter on a creation myth and the culture from which it came. They will also plan and present a slideshow presentation about a major god or goddess of ancient Greece, including allusions to him/her in today's world.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Hold Fast To Your Dreams: The Sound and Sense of Langston HughesDescription: Students investigate poetry form as they research the life of Langston Hughes. They perform the lyrics of his poetry, participate in a distance learning program from Cleveland Institute of Music, and produce computer-generated brochures and booklets as they execute this lesson plan.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or Counseling and Guidance (K - 12), or English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Career Discovery: Preparing a ResumeDescription: As part of a career discovery unit, middle school students examine the need to prepare a resume and the potential consequences of giving false information in a resume. Using an online resume wizard designed for middle schoolers, students prepare their first resume. This lesson can be broken into three smaller 30-minute lessons (Step 1, Steps 2-5, and Steps 6-7).

Subject: English Language Arts (7 - 9), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Oral Presentation of Favorite CelebrityDescription: Using the Internet to research facts about a favorite celebrity, students gain the organizational and oral presentation skills needed to successfully deliver an effective speech and slideshow presentation.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Information Literacy (K - 12), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Introduction to African American PoetsDescription: In this lesson student groups will research selected African American poets using the Alabama Virtual Library. Each group will present its findings according to a chosen format.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Autobiographical MagazinesDescription: This assignment is designed for students to tell about themselves through writing and creative media. The students compile original articles and illustrations into an autobiographical magazine.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: The Rookie ProjectDescription: This is a three-part writing project which includes a research paper, a creative short story, and a movie review inspired by the movie, The Rookie. The lesson is easily adapted to other appropriate films of similar themes.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Riddles in the DarkDescription: Riddles can be challenging to solve and even more challenging to write. After reading the riddles used by Gollum to try to ensnare Bilbo in chapter five of Tolkien's The Hobbit and those used by Bilbo to outwit Gollum, students use their wit and cunning to author a riddle pop-up book.

Subject: English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Career Exploration for the Middle School StudentDescription: This is a technology-based career guidance project during which students select a career to research on the Internet. Students will create slideshow presentations of information on selected careers and present the slideshows to the class.

Subject: Character Education (K - 12), or English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: The Diary of Anne Frank: How Would I Survive?Description: After reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, student groups examine the coping strategies of the people in the Secret Annex. Then, each student develops a personal survival plan to be included in a group slideshow presentation which addresses this question: How would I survive if I experienced the same stressful situation? Additionally, the students discuss current world situations that necessitate coping strategies.

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: What about Steinbeck's The Pearl?Description: In this three week unit on the novel The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, students examine and discuss the characteristics of a novel, compare and contrast the novel to folk tales and short stories, write chapter summaries and essays, and conduct Internet research to prepare slideshow presentations on related topics, including both those reflecting cultural differences of the novel's characters and those issues involving the economic principle of supply and demand.

Subject: English Language Arts (7 - 8), or Technology Education (6 - 8) Title: Using Graphic Organizers to Develop a Character AnalysisDescription: This hands-on, technology-based lesson enables students of all ability levels to organize the traits of main characters and to develop a character analysis. Students choose two main characters from myths, legends, or fables to create both a slideshow presentation and a newsletter demonstrating their conclusions.

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Today is World Poetry Day.Add BookmarkDescription: Students read and respond to Billy Collins' poem '' Introduction to Poetry.'' Students then write about a favorite poem and imagine the perfect way to read it.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Story Character HomepageAdd BookmarkDescription: Students analyze personal homepages, as well as a character in a book they have read, and then create a homepage for the character.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: E-pals Around the WorldAdd BookmarkDescription: With e-pals, students develop real-life writing and social experiences, learn the format of a friendly letter and parts of an e-mail message, and discover other cultures, languages, and geographic areas.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832.Add BookmarkDescription: Students brainstorm important events and people that might serve as the beginning of an interesting piece of writing. They then use the Bio-Cube to plan their writing and write an essay about a memorable person.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Proverbs: At Home and around the WorldAdd BookmarkDescription: In this lesson, students work with proverbs from home and from around the world, exploring how these maxims are tied to a cultures values and everyday experience.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Doodle Splash: Using Graphics to Discuss LiteratureAdd BookmarkDescription: Students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students then combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts, Social StudiesTitle: What Makes a Poem an Epic?Add BookmarkDescription: This student interactive, from an EDSITEment lesson, prompts students to identify examples of the epic hero cycle from a story with which they are familiar.Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEmentGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Investigating the Holocaust: A Collaborative Inquiry ProjectAdd BookmarkDescription: Students explore a variety of resources as they learn about the Holocaust. Working collaboratively, they investigate the materials, prepare oral responses, and produce a topic-based newspaper to complete their research.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Find favorite book picks in the Children's Choices.Add BookmarkDescription: Students create lists of their favorite books and then the class creates a '' Top Picks'' class booklist. Students can use the Book Cover Creator to create a book jacket for their favorite book.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: K,1,2,3,4,5,6

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and NoyesAdd BookmarkDescription: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures. They describe how word pictures emphasize or qualify the meanings of their poems.Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEmentGrade Span: 6,7,8